LEASING
Leasing 101- Preparing For Your Busiest Leasing Season … EVER!
BY BRIAN SANCHEZ
In a market saturated with historical concessions and high vacancies, the one amenity and holy grail your competitors don’ t have is … you! That’ s right, YOU are the secret sauce, and a major reason prospective residents choose your community over the one across the street.
It’ s a competitive market right now, with brand new apartments in leaseup and intriguing offers such as up to 12 weeks of free rent, $ 500- $ 2,000 incentives via gift cards, parking upgrades and other refreshed amenities. How are you going to compete with all of that? Let’ s dive in and look at all the resources YOU have available in your leasing tool belt and get back to basics to prepare for your busiest and most successful leasing season ever!
Let’ s talk about the 5 P’ s of leasing and marketing. I have leased and managed different kind of apartments all over the country, and every time I take on a leasing assignment and prepare for the busy leasing season, I start with the 5 P’ s and start analyzing each category. When ownership or management asks me, why aren’ t we leasing? I simply ask the team these 5 basic questions, is it our People, Product, Price, Promotion or Place?
OUR PEOPLE
You are the reason prospective residents will lease or not lease at your community. A focused, positive and can-do mindset will prepare you for having a successful leasing day. When you start your day, be prepared and call your scheduled tours ahead of time to know exactly what they are looking for in their new home. Remember the little things that make a huge difference: when they walk through the door, stand up and greet them with a smile and their name. Offer them something to drink. Listen and take genuine interest in what they’ re looking for.
Open the apartments you will be showing them 1st thing in the morning and have the floor plans ready with pricing already listed for them, so they know you took the time to listen and find them exactly what they are looking for.
While on tour, ask them what they like to do for fun and build upon that. Find common ground and their interests to give you genuine talking points throughout the tour. Use their name throughout the tour and your presentation.
18 | TRENDS APRIL 2026 www. aamdhq. org